I read with interest the article in the TES Magazine “Chained to your desk, seriously” (May 29) and the suggestion that the Study Ball gadget can be used to monitor students’ time spent at their desk. It described how it could reduce the work-avoidance tactics of leaving to watch TV or retrieve food.

May I suggest it could as easily be used by teachers and leadership teams? Many times over this half term such a gadget would have kept me at my desk to concentrate on lesson planning, preparation for a school improvement partner’s visit, diploma development and other joys. Instead, I was free to weed the garden path, raid the fridge, watch swallows and much more.

Hilary Winter, Headteacher, The Piggott School, Reading, Berkshire.